I hava a 7mm Rem Mag ( Remington 700 BDL stainless/synthetic ) that I just can't get to shoot very well. It gets loaded up with copper fouling after only a few rounds, and is a bitch to get clean. The rifle has about 350 rounds through it now, but still accumulates copper fouling at an unusually high rate. I'm thinking of fire-lapping it with the TUBB Final Finish system. As I understand it, the system works like this : The box of 50 projectiles are coated in 5 different grades of an abrasive lapping compound. You are supposed to load the bullets with a light powder charge, and fire them, cleaning as you go. As you progress through the bullets and gradually finer abrasives, the bore gets the tool marks honed out of it. It sounds plausible, I've heard of fire-lapping before, but does it really work withoud doing damage to the gun ?

Yes, I have used it on a really rough Mini-30 bore. The bore is .310 and I was told to use the .308 kit. It worked well, copper fouling was reduced and accuracy increased. If They made a .310 kit it may have done even better. I would use it again if I find myself with another rough barrel.

I use it extensively as a proprietary break in process I developed my self for "breaking in" ANY barrel new or used..

Simply clean the barrel thoroughly as the instructions decribe, but instead of shooting 10 then cleaning between abrasive grits, shoot one then clean between each shot for the first 2 grit levels, for a total of 20 shots, then do 5 round groups for the next 2 grits and the final grit level do a 10 shot string and finish with a cleaning. Do this with all barrels that have never been "tubb'd" as i call it. I have taken average run of the mill factory barrels and made them shoot fanfreakintastic using this product and my rather anal retentive method of applying it..

Yeah, I thought that I would probably clean the barrel thoroughly after every shot for the first two or three abrasive levels. It only seems the right thing because the lapping compound has to touch the barrel, not the fouling from the last bullet in order to do any good.

Thanks for your input, guys. I guess I'll be giving MIDWAY a call. ( I don't really like calling them...They're alot like the LAY'S potato chip commercial, you know ? You can't just order ONE thing ! )

So, last Monday night I called Midway... I got off easy, because I only ordered TWO items ! Thursday afternoon the big brown truck rolls up and drops off my package. I spent some time reading the TUBB instruction sheet, and the box carefully. I noticed a slight discrepancy, so I called TUBB to confirm. The gentleman answered all my questions, and gave me further advice. The system is supposed to work best when muzzle velocities are kept between 2200 and 2500 FPS.( rifle ). I spent a great deal of time looking for a powder and charge that would provide such a slow velocity. In an old book from IMR, I found a listing for IMR 4227 and 35 gr giving a velocity of just over 2400 FPS. Perfect ! The start charge of 32 gr is what I plan on using, and best of all, I have IMR 4227 on the shelf ! So now the fun starts. I get to load the rounds and go to the range. I bought a BIG bottle of Barnes copper solvent, and a handfull of bronze brushes. Over the next couple weeks, I'll get the work done, and find out how well it helped. I'll keep you informed of the progress.

I bought a BIG bottle of Barnes copper solvent, and a handfull of bronze brushes.

Click to expand...

Get ya some Wipe-Out. Forget the copper solvents and the bore brushes, hard work and mediocre results at best. Foam the bore with Wipe-Out, let it sit then patch it out. Done, no more copper, no more scrubbing and no more smell.

WIPE OUT ? Who makes it ? I tried the Gunslick foaming stuff...JUNK. The best copper solvent I've used is the Barnes CR-10, which is supposed to be identical to Sweet's ( which I've used before as well ). I bought the Barnes because I got a smokin' deal on the big bottle. I have never seen WIPE-OUT, but I'll look for it at another shop.

On another note, can anyone confirm that the 35gr load of IMR 4227 is indeed safe ? I looked everywhere for confirmation, but cannot find it. I understand that as a general rule, a charge that only fills the cartridge to about 50 % and gives such low velocities would not be considdered an appropriate powder choice, and therefore not listed. The book that I got that data from was the free IMR hand-out with a print date of May 2001. IMR is no longer made in Plattsburgh, N.Y. It is made in Australia, and is part of Hodgdon/Winchester/IMR. I will be calling IMR on Monday to see if they will confirm that the load is safe to use. I tried to call them Friday, but they are closed on fridays. The web site does not list IMR 4227 at all for use in the 7mmRem Mag. So, I'm stuck waiting until Monday before I can do anything with this.

I use it extensively as a proprietary break in process I developed my self for "breaking in" ANY barrel new or used..

Simply clean the barrel thoroughly as the instructions decribe, but instead of shooting 10 then cleaning between abrasive grits, shoot one then clean between each shot for the first 2 grit levels, for a total of 20 shots, then do 5 round groups for the next 2 grits and the final grit level do a 10 shot string and finish with a cleaning. Do this with all barrels that have never been "tubb'd" as i call it. I have taken average run of the mill factory barrels and made them shoot fanfreakintastic using this product and my rather anal retentive method of applying it..